STOP THE PRESSES! Erick Erickson has endorsed Liz Cheney!Be still my beating heart. This is huge, impressive nepotism at its best. Evidently Mike Enzi (R – WY) has pissed him off. Maybe he’s pissed me off for his coat hanger remark. Why does Liz Cheney think she is qualified to run for Senate from Wyoming?

“...If you were on Twitter at virtually any time Thursday evening, it was almost impossible to avoid mention of Sharknado. Celebrities like Damon Lindelof and Patton Oswalt spent much of the night tweeting sarcastic one-liners, headlining an online viewing party that included everyone from Newark’s mayor, Cory Booker, to Mia Farrow. At its peak, the film was generating more than 5,000 tweets per minute — nowhere near record levels, but undoubtedly impressive for a low-budget cable movie about airborne killer sharks….”

Let’s face it, the nation is being threatened by Kochnado. The Kochs have fostered a strange version of libertarian populism, in order to promote their own agenda. In doing so, they have created what can only be termed “epic fail” in the GOP.

Politicus USA

Why would you compare the Kochs to a cheesy science fiction parody? There is one very good reason – they are nothing but parody. They are also like a really bad disaster movie. Just when you think it can’t get much worse, they do. They’re like the giant slithering worm that ate America.

“...For a while, they thought they had found their wonk hero in the person of Mr. Ryan. But the famous Ryan plan turned out to be crude smoke and mirrors, and I suspect that even conservatives privately realize that its author is more huckster than visionary. So what’s the next big idea?

Enter libertarian populism. The idea here is that there exists a pool of disaffected working-class white voters who failed to turn out last year but can be mobilized again with the right kind of conservative economic program — and that this remobilization can restore the Republican Party’s electoral fortunes.

You can see why many on the right find this idea appealing. It suggests that Republicans can regain their former glory without changing much of anything — no need to reach out to nonwhite voters, no need to reconsider their economic ideology. You might also think that this sounds too good to be true — and you’d be right. The notion of libertarian populism is delusional on at least two levels.

First, the notion that white mobilization is all it takes rests heavily on claims by the political analyst Sean Trende that Mitt Romney fell short last year largely because of “missing white voters” — millions of “downscale, rural, Northern whites” who failed to show up at the polls. Conservatives opposed to any major shifts in the G.O.P. position — and, in particular, opponents of immigration reform — quickly seized on Mr. Trende’s analysis as proof that no fundamental change is needed, just better messaging….”

You can’t make up a background like theirs. Fred Koch was such a disaster and his Nazi relatives were so bad, they were even too nasty for one of the great monsters in history – Stalin.

Fred Koch was a piece of work.

“...The Bircher ode to Koch glosses over Fred’s record of bigotry. In a booklet he authored, Fred railed against civil rights leaders, and claimed the movement against racial segregation was a communist plot to use African Americans to destabilize the country. The Koch-funded Birchers held numerous rallies during the ’60s claiming integration would lead to a “mongrelization” of the races.

Although the present-day Koch brothers try to eschew explicit racism, their top Tea Party front group, Americans for Prosperity, is currently pursuing similar racial segregation goals. In North Carolina, the Americans for Prosperity chapter led a campaign to end a highly successful public school integration system….

The New American has put out an article about Fred Koch, the alleged oil man against Communism. They never bother mentioning that he was an oilman for the Nazis and made his money off Stalin. His father, a Dutch immigrant, hated the New Deal and vowed to destroy it. Well, it looks like his grandsons are doing just that, turning this once great land into their grandfather’s vision of just what America should be.

They have turned this nation into a bad disaster movie, doing things, perverting the Constitution in ways the ‘founding fathers’ they claim to worship would never imagine.

“…The majority of Americans are fortunate to never know what it means to be destitute, or exist in a condition where they lack enough money to afford basic human needs such as food, clothing, shelter, or health care, but there are forces in this country intent on creating an entire population living in poverty. Over the past thirty years, Republicans and their libertarian funders used a variety of means to create an economic environment conducive to the wealthy increasing their fortunes, and they couched their plutocratic machinations with promises that if the people gave more to the rich, their largesse would be rewarded with a return on their investment down the road that did nothing but crash the economy and create more wealth for the richest one-percent of income earners. Over the past four years, Republicans and their corporate masters changed tactics and promised the people that cutting the nation’s debt and deficit through austerity was the key to creating a vibrant economy, full employment, and a thriving middle class, and through it all the number of Americans slipping into poverty increased with no sign of letting up in the near or foreseeable future. Now, Republicans have abandoned any pretense of helping Americans improve their economic fortunes, and with unflagging support of their wealthy support mechanism are on a tear to create the nation of peasants America is destined to become….”

Because of the Koch Machine the far right thinks it can get away with just about anything they want. They have turned the right into a disgusting racist machine, that doesn’t even resemble what ‘conservative’ once was, and it sure wasn’t racist. Why does Rush Limbaugh think he can get away with using the “N-word” on the radio and think no one is going to … oh wait … his ratings are so bad, he’ll do anything for attention. Bless his little attention-whoring heart.

Some idiot on FOX News said that the people protesting the Zimmerman verdict were basically a ‘Tsunami of Anti-Capitalism“. In a way it is funny. If you annoy a far right idiot, they accuse you of being a socialist, anti-capitalist, or progressive. Evidently that’s the worst they can do. If you don’t agree with THEIR version of what conservative should be, what the country should be, you are well, just read what a former blogging colleague emailed to The Pink Flamingo a few months ago. It expresses his contempt for what I have become – someone who disagrees with him politically.

“…Well, you have shocked me with your transformation. I do and will remain an ardent conservative, and I do and will always consider Obama to be an Alinsky-informed monster embodying the sheer solipsism of the Left. Give my regards to the Weather Underground. And I will never forgive him for Benghazi. The man lives in campaign mode, even in times of crisis, and understands nothing else. I do have an Independent streak, a libertarian slant . . . and I do feel at times like I have no government at all, none that I can believe in, especially in the midst of the incredible incompetence being reflected in the weak testimonies of all these no-nothing officials in all these scandals of late. But, some social issues do belong on the public stage, including abortion . . . . I have believed that ever since reading George Wills Statecraft As Soulcraft some years ago. As for the Koch brothers, well, give my best to George Soros. Rove? A dunderhead. But Axelrod is a snake, and has long had that reputation . . . certainly the lowest and trashiest on-air campaign this time that I have ever seen, with the help, apparently, of the IRS if not the NSA. Sorry we have lost you. I will keep fighting for free markets and free minds, and fighting for the flag my father fought for . . . the one with “50 stars” on the blue field, not the giant “O.”…”

The Koch Machine is coming close to creating a civil war in this country between those of us who were once part of the GOP and who at one time, fell for their lies. Now that those of us who have ‘seen the light’ and choose not to be brainwashed are treated like dirt. For some strange reason, we’re the ones betraying this country and not the Brother’s Koch and their minions.

The way I fell, fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. I’m not going to be fooled twice.

NOTE: An incomplete version of this piece was accidentally posted several days ago. I took it down, but traces remain, elsewhere, which is rather interesting in itself.

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SJ Reidhead (aka The Pink Flamingo) is a writer based in New Mexico. The author of two published novels, both westerns: Dust Devil and The Second Mrs. Earp and two published works of non-fictions: TRAVESTY: Frank Waters Earp Agenda Exposed and A Church for Helldorado, Endicott Peabody's 1882 Tombstone Diary. One of the leading authorities on the life of Wyatt Earp and Tombstone during the Earp years, she is currently writing a series of murder mysteries set in modern day Tombstone. The author is also working on a book about fashion in the Wild West. When complete, there will be over 2100 unpublished antique photographs dating from 1855-1910.

The author's work has appeared in Wild West, True West, Blogcritics, and The Tombstone Times. Recently the author has had to deal with a father who succumbed to Alzheimer's Disease. This is leading to a book dealing with the frustrations of dealing with the frustrations of the disease, finance, legal, health-care, and things no one bothers telling families about it. She is currently working on a murder mystery series set in modern day Tombstone and Cochise County. Several books of essays on Christian living are currently in edits. A book of essays and revisions of articles about Wyatt Earp has been completed and will include her latest work detailing her theory about the murder of his second wife, Mattie.

SJ Reidhead has been involved in Republican politics since she was 'a little kid'. During the Reagan years she was a lobbyist working with various non-profit organizations who were attempting to salvage NASA and the American space program after the disastrous Carter years. In spite of ups and downs, and numerous disappointments, politically, it is obvious the only political hope for this country is via the Republican Party. Along with politics she is an opera fanatic, has been known to stalk baritones to the point of being a baritone junkie, and loves baseball.

The Pink Flamingo went on line on October 4, 2005.

THE PINK FLAMINGO STORY

It started out as a joke. During the seven years I worked with the girls of my parish, leading a youth group, one of the things that I stressed were manners. Part of having manners, the way I see it, is to know how to set a proper table, host a party, cater it, and clean up afterward. I was fortunate enough to have a group of very talented girls in my youth group. They learned how to plan for, and execute large church functions, very properly. During one such function I noticed there were several incredibly tacky pink flamingos sitting on the table. Knowing the girls were up to something, I said nothing. A few months later they did the same thing at a function I was hosting at my home. I said nothing. They had a birthday party for me. More pink flamingos appeared - and a joke was born.

Thanks to the girls, all of whom are now grown, I have a collection of pink flamingos. It has become an ongoing joke. When I began working on my political blog, I realized the only possibly title was The Pink Flamingo!